Natural Selection 2: Derelict is a hefty update adding an all-new battlefield to the aymmetrical multiplayer combat game. It’s entirely free to all current Natural Selection 2 owners, and live now on Steam.

Derelict boasts four techpoints, nine resource nodes and “unique environment art”. here’s a bit of flavour text, a map, and a trailer:

“The xenomorphs most likely used the garage as their ingress-point. From there, the southern ventilation shaft gave Skulks access the central biosphere. Some of the staff were caught in their offices in B-wing. Everybody is dead.”

Subnautica has only been in development for a “few short months,” so the final product may look different than what you see through the link.

Players will swim in shallow waters around coral reefs and even deeper water where things are big enough to eat you without so much as a struggle. However, the player can use a personal water vehicle called the Sea Glide which will help them evade hungry denizens of the deep.

A submarine called the Cyclops will also be available, and will include an “extensive, detailed interior.” Players can board the Cyclops and pilot it around the world, faster and with more protection from danger than while swimming or using the Sea Glide.

Unknown Worlds promises an open development that will welcome participation of their community through feedback and sharing of ideas. So if you like what you see, it could be time to get involved.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/12/subnautica-pre-alpha-shots-released-by-natural-selection-2-developer-unknown-worlds/feed/0Humble Weekly Sale features Little Inferno, Super Hexagon, Hotline Miami, morehttp://www.vg247.com/2014/04/03/humble-weekly-sale-features-little-inferno-super-hexagon-hotline-miami-more/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/03/humble-weekly-sale-features-little-inferno-super-hexagon-hotline-miami-more/#commentsThu, 03 Apr 2014 19:38:31 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=462217The Humble Weekly Sale is once again upon us, and this week, you can nab the following titles for less than a bottle of Strawberry Hill: Little Inferno, Super Hexagon and Natural Selection 2. Of you decide to pay $6 or more, you will also be graced with Critter Crunch, PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate and Hotline Miami. The Humble Weekly Sale this week is hosted by Destructoid, who hand-picked these awesome titles, and the sale will last until April 10.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/03/humble-weekly-sale-features-little-inferno-super-hexagon-hotline-miami-more/feed/0Humble Jumbo Bundle includes Magicka, Natural Selection 2, Garry’s Mod, morehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/12/03/humble-jumbo-bundle-includes-magicka-natural-selection-2-garrys-mod-more/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/03/humble-jumbo-bundle-includes-magicka-natural-selection-2-garrys-mod-more/#commentsTue, 03 Dec 2013 21:58:22 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=432050The Humble Jumbo Bundle is now available and contains Natural Selection 2, Sanctum 2, Magicka and its DLC. Those who pay over the average, currently sitting at $3.94, will unlock Orcs Must Die! 2: Complete Pack, Serious Sam 3: BFE and Garry’s Mod. Soundtracks are included with select games. More games will be added soon, so pay over the average and unlock them as they are added. Video is below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/03/humble-jumbo-bundle-includes-magicka-natural-selection-2-garrys-mod-more/feed/1Natural Selection 2 fanbase seeks to crowdfund international tournamenthttp://www.vg247.com/2013/10/14/natural-selection-2-fanbase-seeks-to-crowdfund-international-tournament/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/10/14/natural-selection-2-fanbase-seeks-to-crowdfund-international-tournament/#commentsMon, 14 Oct 2013 01:31:31 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=417314Natural Selection 2 developer Unknown Worlds has given its blessing to a crowdfunding campaign for an official international tournament.

The campaign, which is hosted on a private website, seeks to gather just $30,000 in pledges to hold the first Natural Selection 2 World Championship.

The tournament is planned to begin with an international ladder later this year, leading into a four-team showdown in Cologne, Germany.

Unknown Worlds doesn’t have the cash to fund the tournament itself; although it’s contributing, the fanbase has been asked to pony up the cost of flights and accommodation for finalists.

A teaser trailer below will perhaps convince you to open your wallet a little.

For those not in the know, Natural Selection 2 is an indie shooter for Linux and PC which pits humans against aliens in a battle for resources and has some interesting parallels with RTS titles like StarCraft. It’s a skilled game and watching experts at work is pretty impressive; if the tournament is funded it will be live streamed, which will be a bit of a treat.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/10/14/natural-selection-2-fanbase-seeks-to-crowdfund-international-tournament/feed/0Natural Selection 2 Reinforced update now available alongside free Steam weekend and 75% off salehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/08/30/natural-selection-2-reinforced-update-now-available-alongside-free-steam-weekend-and-75-off-sale/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/30/natural-selection-2-reinforced-update-now-available-alongside-free-steam-weekend-and-75-off-sale/#commentsFri, 30 Aug 2013 20:51:14 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=403869Natural Selection 2 has a lot going on with it at the moment, such as a free expansion, the addition of DirectX 11 and Linux support and a free weekend. Hit up the break for all the news.

The Reinforced update comes with new weapons, traps, items, tutorials the aforementioned DirectX 11 and Linux support, the female marine and more.

While the update is free, Unknown Worlds has estimated it cost the company $550,000 to create it, so it is accepting crowdfunding donations to help decide whether more free content will be released in the future.

“Six months of game development is not cheap, and we have often discussed how we might continue to pay for keeping the studio focused on Natural Selection 2 full time,” the firm posted on its website.

“Various options were discussed – Including making Reinforced a separate Steam DLC, or introducing in-game micro-transactions. But these monetisation methods do not fit with our culture. Knowing we must pay the bills to keep the lights on, we decided to introduce the Reinforcement Program.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/30/natural-selection-2-reinforced-update-now-available-alongside-free-steam-weekend-and-75-off-sale/feed/0Natural Selection 2 adding female soldiershttp://www.vg247.com/2013/07/06/natural-selection-2-adding-female-soldiers/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/06/natural-selection-2-adding-female-soldiers/#commentsFri, 05 Jul 2013 23:07:47 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=385787Yes, there are people in the world who are against having women fight on the front lines, but Natural Selection 2 devs Unknown Worlds are not among them. In fact, they’re adding female soldier models to their online shooter as free DLC that will be available in late August or early September.

And they’re doing it right by eschewing boob-shaped chest plates for, you know, real armor. Here’s what our female fighter will look like.

Whoa, she looks like a soldier! How about that. In addition to that armor, Special Edition purchasers will be able to play a Black Armor version, and Deluxe Edition owners will get a Deluxe armor version. I’m told she will kick ass in any of those sets. More on this here.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/06/natural-selection-2-adding-female-soldiers/feed/9Natural Selection 2 is getting a female marine in September sporting full armorhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/07/03/natural-selection-2-is-getting-a-female-marine-in-september-sporting-with-full-armor/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/03/natural-selection-2-is-getting-a-female-marine-in-september-sporting-with-full-armor/#commentsWed, 03 Jul 2013 20:58:01 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=385230Natural Selection 2 is getting a female marine, and she will be completely covered – like one would normally dress when battling aliens.

“Often, they are stylised to such a degree that they become sexual objects: While their male comrades are clothed, armed and armored to fight, the female character is notable for the lack of any clothing at all,” the firm wrote. “When female characters are granted equal protection, that protection often ignores basic laws of physics in favor of offering titillating form.

“This is not good enough, and it’s not a trope Unknown Worlds will entertain. Games are legitimate cultural influences, and game developers are responsible for the message they choose to convey to players.

“The Natural Selection 2 female marine is first and foremost, like her male colleague, a soldier. Her armor puts function before form, while adopting the science fiction, melee combat aligned design ques that have made the male marine so uniquely recognizable.”

The female marine is currently still in development, but look for her to be available by September as a free update.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/03/natural-selection-2-is-getting-a-female-marine-in-september-sporting-with-full-armor/feed/9Natural Selection 2 scam sees over a thousand game keys deactivatedhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/03/08/natural-selection-2-scam-sees-over-a-thousand-game-keys-deactivated/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/08/natural-selection-2-scam-sees-over-a-thousand-game-keys-deactivated/#commentsFri, 08 Mar 2013 12:20:26 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=347413Natural Selection 2 was at the heart of a $30,000 credit card scam that saw over a thousand bogus keys sold via third-party distributors. Valve has now blocked all of the keys in question, locking out anyone who bought them.

PCGamesN reports that 1,341 keys are said to have been bought using stolen credit card information and then sold on at a discount via third-party traders over Steam.

After each key was sold, the sellers in question then requested a ‘charge-back’ on their original purchase, which cost the developer $22 a time, costing them around $30,000.

Responding to Valve’s block, the developer said in a statement, “This episode is a prime example of why all gamers need to beware discount Steam keys and those offering them.

“If you see Natural Selection 2 available anywhere else — like the many sites out there that sell Steam keys at a discount — then you are not buying it from us and there is no way to know if that key is legitimate.

“As as result, we strongly discourage purchasing from these sites. It’s unfortunate that players who believed they were buying legitimate games were hurt by these unscrupulous resellers.”

As a precaution, all gamers should only buy Natural Selection 2 via Steam or the developer’s own webpage. Stay smart people.

Destructoid reports the DLC is due in the next few weeks and will be free to all those who own the unusual shooter.

One new map, Descent, will be included. Set in space, it includes all new assets and features, which will also become available in the map editor.

Speaking of which, the update will improve the SDK and custom tools, as well as balance maps, overhaul spectator mode, and upgrade lighting and modelling.

But most perintently, the update will give the Gorge unit the ability to create underground tunnels, giving it equal status to teleporting human units. The tunnels can be used by friend and foe alike, regardless of type, and combat can occur should opposing forces meet. Interestingly, no matter where you place the two ends of the tunnel, it will always be the same length.

Babblers, a feature of the first Natural Selection, make a return. The Gorge can summon up to nine Babblers and command them to attack or use them as shields.

The human faction also gets some new features. The mech will score a rail gun with chargeable shots, and a new disintegration effect means enemies will explode before your eyes.

Natural Selection 2 is available through Steam and pits humans against monstrous foes. It includes a strategy element, in that a single player acts as a commander for an entire side, with access to a top down map.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/20/natural-selection-2-preps-free-gorgeous-content-update/feed/4Metacritic refuse to remove factually inaccurate review even after GameSpot admits mistakehttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/15/metacritic-refuse-to-remove-factually-inaccurate-review-even-after-gamespot-admits-mistake/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/15/metacritic-refuse-to-remove-factually-inaccurate-review-even-after-gamespot-admits-mistake/#commentsThu, 15 Nov 2012 09:41:24 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=316125Metacritic’s policy to accept a publication’s first review is coming back round to haunt Natural Selection 2. GameSpot reviews editor Kevin VanOrd recently banished the site’s original article due to a number of factual errors and silly mistakes. Unfortunately, Metacritic is refusing to replace the old score with GameSpot’s replacement verdict.

While GS dealt with the situation accordingly, Metacritic is refusing to acknowledge the new score. The original 6/10 still stands even though Raze justified an 8/10 in the re-review.

Metacritic explained the situation.

“Yes, the critics we track know – and I spoke to the GameSpot team about this this week – that we only accept the first review and first score published for a given game,” MC head Marc Doyle told Kotaku.

“I’m explicit about this policy with every new publication we agree to track. It’s a critic-protection measure, instituted in 2003 after I found that many publications had been pressured to raise review scores (or de-publish reviews) to satisfy outside influences. Our policy acted as a disincentive for these outside forces to apply that type of inappropriate pressure.”

Although it is difficult to criticise Metacritic in this situation, Natural Selection 2 doesn’t appear to be getting a fair crack of the whip. GameSpot indicated the original review had many flaws, surely the second critique needs to be considered? In this day and age, we should never underestimate the power of a Metacritic score.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/15/metacritic-refuse-to-remove-factually-inaccurate-review-even-after-gamespot-admits-mistake/feed/28Natural Selection 2 earns over $1 million during launch weekhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/08/natural-selection-2-earns-over-1-million-during-launch-week/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/08/natural-selection-2-earns-over-1-million-during-launch-week/#commentsThu, 08 Nov 2012 19:25:19 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=314541Natural Selection 2, the indie shooter from developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment, has already earned over $1 million in its first week of availability. The game was in development for six years, and according to the game’s Steam infographic, over 144,000 copies have been sold. Thanks, Gamasutra.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/08/natural-selection-2-earns-over-1-million-during-launch-week/feed/3Natural Selection 2 releasing slightly earlier than plannedhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/10/30/natural-selection-2-releasing-slightly-earlier-than-planned/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/30/natural-selection-2-releasing-slightly-earlier-than-planned/#commentsTue, 30 Oct 2012 08:38:44 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=311309Natural Selection 2, the indie shooter from developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment, is launching slightly earlier than planned. The game that was once a Half-Life mod is now its own fully-fledged title, and it’s looking rather tasty.

The game was due to launch at midnight U.S. time, when a timer on the game’s official website ran down. But the timer has been replaced with a new one that indicates the game is now launching at midnight UK time instead – That’s 8:00 pm EDT (5:00 pm PDT) for all you U.S. fans.

So it’s just a few hours difference, but still, awesome news if you’re a fan. Natural Selection 2 will launch on Steam. Head over to the game’s product page to check out the trailer and pre-purchase.

You can pre-order the game in two editions: the standard for $24.99, or the Deluxe Edition for $39.99 which comes with the soundtrack, a digital art book, avatars, in-game marine armor, and wallpapers.

The Deluxe Edition is currently discounted to the standard price of $24.99 until the game’s release. Those who pre-ordered the game and participated in the beta will be upgraded to this edition and receives a free copy of the standard edition. Developer Unknown Worlds has awarded 45,000 keys already under this scheme.

You can also pick up a four-pack for $74.97 and hand out keys to your friends.

Hit up Steam for more information.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/09/05/natural-selection-2-releases-on-steam-in-october-pre-orders-now-being-accepted/feed/1Natural Selection 2 footage shows off Exosuithttp://www.vg247.com/2012/08/29/natural-selection-2-footage-shows-off-exosuit/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/29/natural-selection-2-footage-shows-off-exosuit/#commentsWed, 29 Aug 2012 01:30:15 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=291152Natural Selection 2 is crawling with aliens, so it’s a good thing it also includes an extra-terrestrials’s natural enemy: a powered exosuit.

“Alright, we admit it. We have been horrible, horrible teases. But we tease no more, here it is: The Exosuit, in all its glory,” Unknown Worlds wrote in a new blog post.

The exosuit comes in two flavours – twin miniguns or mini-gun and “powerfist”.

Natural Selection 2 is a stand alone commcerial sequel to a celebrated Half-life mod. It’s a PC exclusive, and although it hasn’t been dated, you can pre-order through the developer’s site, with Steam pre-orders expected soon – suggesting it’s drawing close to release.

Former modders collective turned dev studio Unknown Worlds seems to be riding out from hobbyist to independent developer with their follow-up title Natural Selection 2, but the transition from Valve’s Half-Life engine to their own internally developed Spark is a little bumpier.

To ensure the new engine is competitive, founder Charlie Cleveland told Hooked Gamers that the team “are constantly loading Natural Selection 1, Team Fortress 2 and other games to compare Natural Selection 2 side-by-side with them.”

Apparently, Spark occasionally has trouble living up to its famous forebears, but Cleveland feels the approach is paying off.

“Often there’s something that feels wrong, but it is unclear if it’s input, performance, script bugs, weapon cones of fire or even enemy player speeds. It is just a complicated process and we’re going to be refining it for a long time and it feels amazing.”

According to Cleveland, Unknown Worlds “took a lot for granted being on the Half-life 1 engine”, the basis for debut title Natural Selection, and progress on the sequel has been slowed by the minutiae of developing an engine.

“The core marine player movement was easier back (during Natural Selection’s development) – it was just tweaking a couple constants and we’re done. Now player movement is a much bigger problem involving general engine performance and smoothness, input tweaks, physics, networking and Lua script work. The aliens are another huge layer on top of that with Skulk wall-walking, Fade “blinking”, etc. We are now at the point where the basic movement is pretty solid but it’s definitely still being worked on.”

Natural Selection 2 went into closed beta in November, and has not yet received a release date, although preorders are available through Steam.

Unknown Worlds has announced a closed beta for Natural Selection 2, has gone live on Steam.

Those who have pre-ordered the game or played around in alpha version will gain access to the beta build complete with the alien Fade creature, new alien structures and more.

Like the alpha test, the beta contains mod tools, and it will be updated on a frequent basis. Access to the beta will run you $34.95 – as you must pre-order it to be admitted – and only 10,000 spots will be open, and of course the game is opened up to you after completion since you purchased it before hand.

Those who are 10,0001 in line purchasing the game will miss out on the beta, since there’s only so many spots.

Natural Selection 2 is scheduled for release this fall and the online FPS has a new teaser posted after the break.

Pitting aliens against humans, the strategic shooter allows two teams of up to 16 players to face against evolving environments that change as you play – so you supposedly never play the same game twice.

Hallways get deformed, flamethrowers become your best friend, power can be cut to enemy bases – loads of stuff’s possible.